9 Things You Never Knew About the Secret Service

Read on for surprising facts about one of America's most private agencies.

Agents are more than bodyguards

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In addition to tracking nearly 1,500 presidential death threats per year, the Secret Service also investigates credit fraud, financial crimes, identity theft, counterfeiting, and computer fraud. Check out these 14 secret code works you’re not meant to know.

They use quirky code names

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The United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent people and places. John and Jackie Kennedy were known as “Lancer” and “Lace”; Ronald and Nancy Reagan went by “Rawhide” and “Rainbow.” Agents call the Pentagon “Calico,” and refer to The White House as “Castle.” Here are more clever code names the Secret Service gave to U.S. presidents.

The Secret Service has more than 6,500 employees

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About 3,200 agents work in 150 offices in the U.S. and abroad, and around 1,300 of those agents are members of the Uniformed Division, responsible for offering protection to the White House.